on Fri Apr 28, 2017 7:42 am

The eighth division Captain seemed to know precisely what to say as the girl finished speaking. It was as if he had felt with pain and sadness many times before. It was as if he was speaking from the heart while also from a manuscript of some sort. It was as if he knew all along that he would have to speak words over their lifeless corpses eventually, but the hope he had gained from seeing his wife alive had been crushed by the poor, deceased, little blonde. The brown haired nurse could tell by the time and change within Noziel's voice that his being had been crushed no matter how strong he intended to be in response. No matter how long he had to grieve and prep for a moment like this, he would have responded the very same way every time. It was a loss that would stick with him forever. She simply wondered how much harder Mei would take the loss. She had searched 500 years for that child only to be reunited with her and then to have her die shortly after. It was a tragedy that would surely crush her poor spirit.

However, seeing Noziel cry forced a pain to shoot through the green eyed woman's heart that was almost worse than anything she had ever felt. How would she feel when she saw her very own Captain in such a position? How would she feel seeing the disappointed, pain filled eyes of the woman who had saved her? She simply couldn't return the favor and thus felt as if her existence was becoming a lie. What could she have done differently? As the Squad 8 Captain spoke to the nurse, she would nod in response to his question before building her appearance back up. It wasn't perfect, but it was good enough. The woman would escort him to the next room over, where Mei should have been resting while on a sort of monitor, however what they returned to was something quite terrifying.

The pink eyed Captain was wallowing about on the floor as the multiple nurses attempted to subdue her in a very dangerous manner. "Where is she?! Give her back!" Pink eyes were wildly wide with fear and anger as she struggled against the nurses. "Captain, please. We're trying to help you. You're hurting yourself," a softer woman's voice would speak in response while Mei screamed. Then, she would bite down hard on the poor lady's hand, who would let out a rather loud shriek, "Captain! Please let go! It hurts!" The blonde would let go knowing she couldn't speak with a bloody hand in her mouth, "Where's my child?! Bring me my baby!You can't keep her!" At this point, the brown haired woman would run up behind the Captain and sit her up straight wrapping her arms tightly around her to keep her arms pinned to her body, "Captain Noz, talk to her please?! She'll listen to you!" Mei would freeze in her tracks at his name before violently flopping around in the lieutenant's arms trying to break free.

She'd taken it worse than I could have ever imagined. Though I doubt she understood the conversation that had taken place a moment ago, what was a blonde woman previously out of touch with reality and dazed rapidly shifted to unbridled rage. She took every chance she was given to lash out at her nurse, and I assumed reflexively. She even bit the poor girl's hand, begging both with tears and with screams, to bring her daughter to her. She was under the delusion that Emiko was being kept from her.... To an extent, she was correct, but not entirely so. Her Lieutenant urged me to talk to her, seeing as she was trying to keep Mei from struggling so much, and I did so earnestly.

I had to lean to the floor as everything that was going on had demanded it. "Mei... Please. She isn't hiding Emiko from you. Trust me, I want to see Emiko as badly as you do.... She's gone. I'm sorry... Please... Please just calm down for now. I know that's a horrible thing for me to ask of you.... but you don't have to suffer alone." Halfway through my pleading, my voice went from soft to desperate, and I could do nothing but attempt to cup her tear-soaked face in my hands. I wasn't really afraid of her biting me too, I'd gladly take the risk. I was semi-vainly hoping that she would hear me, feel me, somehow let go of her overwhelming fear and calm down.

on Fri Apr 28, 2017 8:57 am

As Noziel came into her view, Pink eyes began to look dejectedly towards him as she softly pleaded, "Please.. P-Please tell them to give her back." Her small body had ceased its violent movements giving the lieutenant enough time to search the girl's body for reopened wounds finding that her outbreak did indeed open but a few of the smaller ones. Green eyes would look to the other nurses while Mei focused on the man who was deemed to be her husband. The nurse that had been bitten would be beside a cart sterilizing her wound and wrapping it up until it could be further dealt with. The lieutenant would sigh not yet wanting to release the girl in case of another outrage, however she would losen her grip slightly from the woman.

Noziel would begin to respond to Mei's random fit of rage at the realization of the disappearance of her daughter. His words were soft and full of heartbreak. His heart had been in so much pain that his voice changes to fit. Pink eyes would scan his face leaving a large timelapse of silence. Emi.. no. Emiko. Her daughter was Em.. i.. ko? Yes, that was right. She was gone? Pink eyes would seem to be blank for what seemed like the longest time as if someone had broken the poor girl's mind, however she would soon speak again, "So, Emi is gone?.. Well, where did she go? Is she playing outside? I didn't see her.Maybe, she ran off again. That silly girl, I always tell her not to run off. We should go find her. I'm sure she'll be in some kind of trouble by now." The woman would stared straight into Noziel's eyes waiting for him to accept and go find the little one.

For what seemed like a while, Mei would stare into his eyes and grow increasingly concerned. His eyes were weird looking, but she didn't know what kind of weird looking. They were angry? No. Disappointed? No. Sad? Yes. That was it. He seemed very sad but more so than that, he seemed very... hurt. His eyes looked a bit red around the skin and the white. His eyes looked broken, dull, and depressed. What had she done? She couldn't remember doing anything. Maybe it was one of the nurses? Maybe it was just him worrying about her? Mei wasn't quite sure and her awkward, thinking facial expression made that highly clear.

I did get her to calm down, but.... she didn't understand what I meant. Either that or she refused to accept the reality of it. While her body was stable, the nurse went back to work on it, and fixed things here and there. Her lieutenant however, heavily hesitated to let her go. All this before I even told her anything, just my presence alone? She pleaded with me, over and over. As I told her, her lovely pink irises, which were now bordering on the edge of tearing themselves to pieces, shrank. A few minutes passed and she asked me a strange question. "So, Emi is gone?.. Well, where did she go? Is she playing outside? I didn't see her.Maybe, she ran off again. That silly girl, I always tell her not to run off. We should go find her. I'm sure she'll be in some kind of trouble by now."

If the situation weren't so desperate and tragic, I might have laughed, but this was no time for that. "No, Mei. She's not... she's not playing this time. She's... You don't understand. . . . Show her if you must." The last segment of that was directed at the Lieutenant, who had seen the body. If she was strong enough and wanted to bring an end to this, it might be necessary. As to how we'd go about doing that, I had no idea. I just knew that.. all things considered, it wasn't going to be a pretty sight.

on Sun Apr 30, 2017 10:07 am

Noziel would immediately begin to correct the mother and tell her that she wasn't quite understanding the words that were leaving his mouth. She didn't understand what she could possible be not understanding. He said her daughter was gone, so she had to have gone somewhere. What were they planning on showing her? What were they going to do? Did they know something that she didn't? Pink eyes would stare at the man she deemed very special to her and her life, however he looked umbearably upset. Had she done something? Did he not want to talk to her?

The lieutenant would stare with wide, green eyes at Noziel contemplating wether he had meant what he just said. He wanted her to show Mei her.. child? He wanted her to bring... this poor, mentally ill mother... to her deceased baby? Perhaps, it would bring her some sort of mental stability, however it was also a risk at ruining her mentality. Could they risk losing their own Captain to insanity? There were many individuals that could take her place, but there were none like her. She was definitely the strongest they had seen and one of the most successful as well. She had become a Captain at so young an age and she had become a Captain with no Bankai at all. She surely wasn't matched in the art of healing. Perhaps, she could handle it.

A wheelchair would be brought to Mei and she would be placed upon it before they wheeled her down the hall. She would be wheeled down to the darkest corner of the barracks and the most vacant too. Her pink orbs frantically looked around as she adjusted and wiped off her glasses thinking she was in some illusion. "Whatever you do, Captain... I- I have to ask you... not to get.. too worked up." With tears in her eyes the green eyed Vice Captain would wheel Mei into the small room with a single table in the middle. Upon the table would be the smallest nag being only about 5' long and upon the bag would be the tiniest zipper. Mei would be wheeled right up to the table as she was directed to open the bag. Upon the first unzip, long, blonde, soft strands of hair would fall from the open whole causing Mei to freeze. The last time she had seen such beautiful hair was the morning before the had died when Mei sang to Emiko while brushing her hair. With every inch, more hair and more memories fell to dangle within the air. Once the bag couldn't unzip anymore, the top of the bag was removed showing a sight that caused Mei to stare in shock. Her eyes were wide and her jaw was locked. The lieutenant stared at Mei ready for anything she could do and she was sure Noziel would be here to make sure Mei was alright.

Long, long minutes had passed before Mei finally began to laugh, but she laughed so hysterically that it began to hurt the Vice Captain's heart. "T-That's funny Emi... Y-You're tricking me... Y-you.. can get up now," the woman's voice was heartbroken and seemed to be begging with everything she could muster. Her pink eyes never once left the sight of the pale body in front of her. Her body was snow white, her lips looked blue and cold, and her face looked completely still. Mei seemed to begin to notice the lifelessness of her own flesh and blood in front of her. "E-Emi.. Emiko.. Emiko Tsaki.. P-please get up. Please. Wake up.... Wake up wake up wake up..." tears began to stream from the woman's eyes as she reached up to run her hands along her hair multiple times as if dealing with some sort of anxiety, "EMIKO, PLEASE?!WAKE UP!" Her once pleading voice had become a fit of screaming terror as she pulled and pulled at her hair while tears streamed from her eyes. "Mommy is so sorry! Mommy is so sorry! Please, come back to me?! Please?!" The woman's screamed, cried, and pulled at her hair and scratched at her skin as if she wanted to come out of her own body.

The lieutenant would stare at the woman and then sink to her knees. She hadn't been prepared for this, even if she thought she would be. She would have never been prepared for this sort of pain and disappointment. She would have never been prepared to console this woman the way she needed. What was she supposed to do? Who was going to help Mei? The lieutenant was in complete shock, "I.. I... I.. failed.."

I didn't want to put my wife through this. As much as I hated the thought of her seeing her dead daughter, I didn't think anything else would make it sink in. I knew she would freak out... but this wasn't anything close to the extent I foresaw. Upon the approval of her Lieutenant, though hesitant to show her, lead Mei to the table her daughter was on. As Emiko's body was revealed, I was actually surprised that she was even as together as she was. The healing corps did serious miracle work considering what they were given.All I could hear at first was the blonde love of my life falling to pieces by way of hysterically painful laughter, most likely of sheer disbelief. Mei at first urged her daughter to stop being silly and to stop tricking her... to get up, to wake up, to say something, say anything at all, she wailed.

But it only got worse from there.

The body of her daughter was almost as white as snow, and poorly gaunt, which was something even healing couldn't fix. Mei saw this and continued to fall apart, tears cascading from her eyes as though they were raindrops. I had trouble just watching Mei's reaction... but I couldn't fault her. I mean... I cared about Emiko too. I loved her like she was my daughter too.... Now the pink-eyed mess was screaming for her flesh and blood to awake, to come back, and buried her gaze in the mangled corpse that was once her daughter. Her fingers were mingling with her hair, straining to find rest, and pulling out entire clumps of her golden locks. My poor wife. I often wondered what fates were worse than death, and now, I truly believed I had seen such a fate. She blamed herself for the death of her daughter, so harshly, that she seemed to be inflicting pain upon herself to atone.

But that was just it... It wasn't her fault. It wasn't her lieutenant's fault, even if she also bore the responsibility herself. I had had enough of this pain. "No. It was not your fault, Mei, nor was it her fault. Someone deliberately did this. They wanted to kill her, to kill you, and in the process, hurt me. You can blame me if you need to. No one standing here can bring Emiko back. We want to, desperately, and even this girl over here gave everything she had to try. That's all we could ask." I'd bow respectfully to her lieutenant and then walk over to Mei, in her wheelchair. I'd kneel in front of her, separating her physically from Emiko. "Mei. I can't ask anything of you. I loved her too, as I do you. Nothing could have made me any less of a father to her." I held my wife, the last of my bravado fading and my strength beyond gone. I broke right there, holding my shell of a beloved, hoping that she could find something in the way of peace. "Please, Mei. Understand.... It's over... There is nothing we... can do to get her back...." I had to pause in between words simply because I was heaving breaths. It took so much effort to speak at this point that I gave up entirely after that.

on Mon May 01, 2017 9:03 am

All Mei could remember was her smile, her little, precious smile, and now it was gone. It was gone from the human world and this world and all other worlds. It was lost and never to be found again. How could this happen? She remembered every night, every terror, every sleep walking experience, every storm that every passed through, every being that tried to attack her child, and every memory that had made the woman promise that she would always protect her baby. She had failed, not once, but twice. She let her poor 16 year old child get shot to death and was told she had struggled in death. She had asked herself what kind odometer would do such a thing to her baby. What kind ofonster would look her child straight in the face and shoot her seven or more times in the least fatal areas and let her bleed to death? What kind of man would leave a 16 year old girl barely living on the streets alone as night fell over her and her body grew cold? What kind of mother... was too busy.. to know her child was even gone? What kind of mother was she to let her child believe.. she was safe? What kind of mother would lie to her sweet, baby girl and give her hope that "mommy would save her every time"? It was all fake. It was all just a decorative coating over a world of terrors, lies, and deceit to give her a sense of very false hope that shouldn't have been allowed to stand.

Blood curdling screams would leave the mouth of the beautiful blonde, as she blamed herself for killing her child. Even if she didn't do it, she had never taught her daughter how to defend herself, or run away, or that there were mean people in the world. She never taught her daughter what she needed to know and that Squad 12 bastard was right. He was right all along, but Mei was too blind to see it. The waterworks never ceased, but her heart seemed to be stopped in a timeless world that would continue forever throughout eternity with no sense of a sliver of happiness for eons. At this point, she might as well have had no reason to exist.

However, a voice would snap her to reality, even when her heart was still shattering and tearing into pieces. Tears would continue to flow as Mei rocked back and forth. It was nobody's fault? Someone tried to kill them? Someone killed her child, yet she survived? What kind of cruel world was this? A world where children were motherless and mothers were childless was a place sicker than sick indeed. There was no perfect world and everything suddenly seemed to disgust her. Mei would turn to her lieutenant as Noz spoke of her efforts, however Mei's face didn't seem nearly as forgiving nor did her heart. Mei would watch her green eyes grow wider and she would watch the very happiness the girl had left leave her body. The link eyed woman would turn towards her child to watch Noz push her back away from the body.

For what was the very first time, Mei would watch Noziel become weaker and weaker until her broke apart. He would speak of his love for Emiko and herself. He would speak with a voice that sounded so bitterly heartbroken and alone in a piece that didn't exist anymore. He would speak through what looked to be oncoming tears causing Mei to break even harder than she already had. The woman would sink into the warmth that hugged her while she spoke to him. "I'll kill them Noziel. I'll kill them all," she spoke through her crying fit with a voice that sounded completely painful and broken. There was no other way to describe it. "MY little girl is gone. My little girl is gone again. I-I... what do I do?" Mei pleaded for something, anything to help her. She didn't know where she needed to go, what needed to happen, or when she needed to do it. At this point, she just wanted to give up.

She contemplated this, slowly letting it sink in. That, and I too. I remembered now in the back of my head why it destroyed her to her inner core so very much. She and Emiko were once human. She'd lost Emiko once before, she had told me when we first met. Now I understood why it ate away at her as much as it did. All I could do was gently caress her arms amid the screaming and the tears that burst from her eyes. At the very least, as I did so, she accepted it. She accepted me. That meant more to me than anything else for the moment. Shaking, she said it, that she would kill all of 'them' to which I assumed she meant hollows or arrancar. She was very much broken now, and her vocal intonations did nothing to hide that.

Finally, her body fell into a slump, letting everything go. She'd given up, for better or for worse, and though she hadn't realized it, though I'm sure her lieutenant did, she had been struggling so much, her wounds had reopened and were bleeding again. "Mei. I know it hurts to hear this, but you need to rest for right now. This is the worst thing that could have ever happened to you, I know." I said this, in between breaths, trying to find my old strength again. "Until you get your strength back, let me take your place. I will enact revenge first, to some of those that did this. I will be your right hand, and I will show them no mercy. They could never deserve mercy from either one of us. How does that sound, Mei?" Though I'd long fallen apart, broken, and sat there half-kneeled I stared into the pink eyes of my beloved, and within them, as weak as I was, there was a passionate flame and flicker. If she could see it, she would know that I was serious about doing all I could to avenge our daughter.

on Mon May 01, 2017 7:57 pm

After finally being able to calm down due to the loss of blood, Mei would wince in agonizing pain and she would hold Noz close to her. She didn't want him to let her go or leave her alone. She didn't want him to go anywhere else. She knew he had responsibilities he needed to take care of, but she wanted him to stay with her. However, she would hear Noz offer to enact their horrible fates on behalf of her, and she immediately found it a better idea while looking into his eyes. He spoke about showing them no mercy. She wanted them to die painfully. She wanted them to die horribly. She wanted them to know what mistakes they had made. Mei would see it within Noziel's eyes that he wanted the dreadful revenge too. Then, things started to grow blurred.

Her breath would increase and her eyes would wander while her body swayed with them. "N-Noz...", Mei would speak before she began to panic causing her body to move more than it needed to. The Vice Captain would struggle to her feet scrambling for a sedative that was within her pocket. She would stumble a bit before sticking the sedative within Mei's arm waiting for the woman to calm to the point she passed out. Then, the Vice Captain would rush Mei down the hallways into another room where they would again begin to close her wounds.